Autopsy prompts holding of murder suspect

Tuesday

Sep 13, 2011 at 12:01 AM

SAN ANDREAS - There were no bruises on the back and head of Marvin Brown, but a pathologist's report concluded that his death was ultimately caused by a broken neck and that human hands were responsible.

Dana M. Nichols

SAN ANDREAS - There were no bruises on the back and head of Marvin Brown, but a pathologist's report concluded that his death was ultimately caused by a broken neck and that human hands were responsible.

That autopsy report, in part, prompted a judge Monday to order James Allison Livezey, 41, held for trial on a second-degree murder charge. Judge Thomas E. Smith ordered the trial after a more-than-three-hour preliminary hearing of the evidence.

Livezey is accused of having beaten Brown, 52, during an encounter in Brown's trailer in Valley Springs on June 29. Brown was hospitalized and died on July 4.

During the preliminary hearing, detectives and other investigators told how witnesses gave conflicting accounts of what happened. Livezey's girlfriend, Angela Sullivan, told investigators that she was the one who pushed Brown during a dispute over a cell phone.

Other witnesses, however, told authorities they saw Livezey attack Brown.

According to several accounts of the attack, there were four people inside Brown's small trailer at the Sequoia Rose Mobile Home Park: Brown, who was washing dishes; Reanna Silveira, who was folding laundry; Livezey and Sullivan.

Deputy Shawn Cechini said that Silveira told him she saw Livezey approach Brown from behind and repeatedly strike him. As Brown began to foam at the mouth and have what appeared to be a seizure, Silveira told Cechini she ran out of the trailer "screaming for help," Cechini said.

The neighbor she alerted, Kevin D. Patton, told Cechini that he arrived at the trailer to see Livezey still over Brown "dumping on him," Cechini said.

Livezey soon departed in a white minivan, and Patton found Brown without a pulse and not breathing, with his eyes rolled back in his head. Patton said he carried Brown outside and administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation and then drove Brown to Mark Twain St. Joseph's Hospital in San Andreas.

That same night, Livezey was arrested on an assault charge. Then he posted $25,000 bail and was released the next day. After Brown died July 4, the charge changed to murder and the bail to $1 million.

Detectives caught up to Livezey on July 12, camped 50 yards from the shore on a remote part of New Hogan Lake.

Detective Josh Crabtree testified that while they were waiting for a boat to transport Livezey back to jail, Livezey spontaneously said that he "did not think that he hurt Marvin," and then launched into an account of his medical problems and the day of the beating.

Crabtree said that Livezey said he'd had a child with Sullivan and that he needed her to watch the child so that Livezey could go to a specialist at U.C. Davis Medical Center to seek treatment for brain cancer.

The day of the beating, Livezey reportedly hadn't seen Sullivan for two days and then found her at Brown's house. Crabtree said that Livezey's mother gave a similar account of her son hunting for Sullivan because he needed child care in order to go to a medical appointment.